Ruiz Leads Phillies Past Cubs

Phillies beat Cubs, 9-2 on Wednesday night.

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Carlos Ruiz hit a tie-breaking solo homer in the eighth inning and the Philadelphia Phillies used Hector Luna's first career grand slam to pull away for a 9-2 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday night.

Kyle Kendrick pitched six sparkling innings in his first start in 12 days as Philadelphia returned to .500 for the first time since it beat Atlanta 4-0 on May 3. He also singled and scored the tying run in the fifth.

Hunter Pence opened the eighth with a long fly ball off Shawn Camp (2-2) that left fielder Alfonso Soriano caught on the warning track, delighting the Wrigley Field crowd of 38,678. But Ruiz followed with a bit longer drive that reached the bleachers in left for his seventh homer.

Published at 11:42 PM EDT on May 16, 2012 | Updated at 10:02 AM EDT on May 17, 2012